Question: Let $f(x) = x^{2}+8x+3$. Where does this function intersect the x-axis (i.e. what are the roots or zeroes of $f(x)$ )?
The function intersects the x-axis when $f(x) = 0$ , so you need to solve the equation: $x^{2}+8x+3 = 0$ Use the quadratic formula to solve $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ $x = \dfrac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$ $a = 1, b = 8, c = 3$ $ x = \dfrac{-8 \pm \sqrt{8^{2} - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot 3}}{2 \cdot 1}$ $ x = \dfrac{-8 \pm \sqrt{52}}{2}$ $ x = \dfrac{-8 \pm 2\sqrt{13}}{2}$ $x =-4 \pm \sqrt{13}$